Attaching a padlock, or a "love lock," to the bridges over the Seine as a symbol of one's love has become popular in the City of Light. The trend has been encouraged by the false belief that it is a local romantic tradition.

It's a problem for other cities, too, but Paris' reputation as a romantic destination has put it at the center of debate.

Whereas New York City stated in no uncertain terms that locks attached to bridges would be removed and trashed, Paris has taken a softer approach to deterring tourists from leaving locks.

That approach is now finally beginning to show results.

In January, Lisa Anselmo and Lisa Taylor Huff, two expats living in Paris, started the No Love Locks campaign to rid the historic bridges of the locks. Anselmo and Taylor Huff are not the only ones against them, but since January, they've been the most successful in spreading word about the problematic locks.

The campaign's progress over the past year has been slow, but this month, their petition to ban the locks surpassed 10,000 signatures.

Over the summer, Paris launched a campaign called, "Our Bridges Can No Longer Withstand Your Gestures of Love." Subtle signage was posted at either end of Pont des Arts, and the campaign encouraged visitors to post a selfie with the hashtag #LoveWithoutLocks instead of attaching metal locks to the bridge.

A subtle sign on the ground at the Pont des Arts asks tourists not to leave locks on the bridge.

The campaign fell flat, according to Anselmo, but it was an important step for the government.

"We're starting to see a larger commitment, a more public commitment, a real stepping up in a way that is less cautious," Anselmo told Mashable, adding that officials at Paris' city hall have told her they are committed to a lock-free Paris. "They want them gone, but they're being careful."

"They're being characteristically diplomatic."

The city's next step is already in motion: Glass panels have been installed in place of some of the meshwork that was destroyed by thousands of locks. It's not possible to attach a lock anywhere on the panels.

There are now three test panels on each of the two most-affected bridges, the Pont des Arts and the Pont de l’Archevêché. Each of the six panels is a different thickness of glass, with different coatings, so officials can see which holds up best to scratching and tagging.

Paris Deputy Mayor Bruno Julliard said that the city has asked souvenir sellers along the Seine to stop selling locks, and asked police to be more aggressive with illegal vendors selling locks to tourists on the bridges.

Anselmo said vendors on the bridge have exacerbated the problem because some visitors to Paris are not even aware of the love locks until they see them.

The city has stopped replacing mesh on bridge panels, instead covering bridge portions where locks damaged the mesh with plywood. Currently, 72 of the 110 panels on the Pont des Arts are covered in plywood — all covered in graffiti. All of the panels could potentially be replaced with the glass, however that decision would likely need to be agreed upon by several government agencies.

"Slowly, slowly, slowly — which is the only way things work in Paris — it looks like we're coming to a solution," Anselmo said.

It's unclear how much the glass panels would cost to install; Anselmo said that continual upkeep with the locks and graffiti is already "cost prohibitive." Also unclear is how many of the 11 bridges affected by locks could be fitted with panels.

However, even after Paris figures out how to deal with love locks on bridges, more love locks are popping up elsewhere. "There are locks on every loop-shaped item everywhere in the center of Paris," Anselmo said.

Still, No Love Locks has achieved one of its original goals, which was to get the government to intervene. Following that success, Anselmo said she and Taylor Huff are launching phase two. One goal is to get a full ban on the locks, but they're also thinking bigger.

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